Dental amalgamator



March 23 1926. 1,578,067

v A. A. BONOFF DENTAL AMALGAMATOR Filed Jan. l5, 1925 Patented Mar. Z3, 1926.

UNITED STATE HARRY A. BONOFF, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

DENTAL AMALGAMATOR.

Application mea January 15, 1925 serial No. 2,567.

T aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. BoNoFF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dental Amalgamators, cf which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in dental amalgamators and mixing devices for similar purposes. y l

In forming amalgams of silver, ycopper and the like for dental work, it has been heretofore common practice to place mer` cury and comminuted silver and-the like in the palm of the dentists hand, so that he may work the ingredients of the amalgam to form a goed mixture. However, the natural oil from the hands and also small amounts of dirt are necessarily forced into the amalgam, thereby inserting impurities so that it is difficult to make a pureamalgam which will properly set.

It is thereforek an object of this inven tion to provide a mixing device or amalgamator in which the ingredients of the amalgam may be placed and which will quickly and efficiently mix them so that a perfectly mixed and pure amalgam will be formed.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an amalgamator or mixing device which is of cheap, simple and durable construction, and which is of compact form and maybe readily attached to the hand lpiece of the so-call'ed dental engine.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment cf the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the amalgamator; Y

` Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the improved amalgamator.;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the amalgamator;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line we of Fig. 1;

Fi 5 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;. and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken substantially'. on the line 6-6 of Fig, 4 y a .Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the improved amalgamator consists of a frame in the form of a rox-like container 10, having an aperture 11 formed in its bottoni which receives a threaded cap 12 having a bore extending therethrough. The cap 12 secures to the container a sleeve 13, which is provided with a recess er notch 14V for a purpose hereinafter to be described. Extending transversely across the box-like container 10, there are two U-shaped brackets 15 and 16, which together with angles 17 are secured to the sides of the container 10 by screws 18. A spindle 19 is disposed centrally of the sleeve 13 and extendsupw'ardly Vthrough the cap 12 and through apertures formed in the U-shaped brackets 15 and 16.

yA bracket 2O is -disposed about the spindle 19 above the inverted U-shaped'bracket'15 and Lis secured to one end wall1of the contalner 10 as by a screw 21. The end of the bracket is bent, as indicated at 22, so that the bracket 20 provides two bearings for the pintle 23. A gear 24 is keyedl to the spindle 19 and meshes with a pinion 25 mounted upon the pintle 23. On top of the inverted U-shaped bracket 16 there is pivotally mounted a lever 26, which has a slot 27 formed therein. A pin 28 constituting a crankis mounted upon the upper surface of the vpinion 25 and extends through the slot 27 formed in the lever' 26. This pin may be provided with a suitable roller 29 constituting an anti-friction bearing` engaging upon the sides of the slot 27. The opposite end of the lever 26 is reversely bent upon itself, as indicated at 30, so that the lever 26 provides two bearings for a pintle 31. A pinion 32 is carried upon the pintle 31 and meshes with the. gear 241. Upon the upper edges of the container 10 there rests a cover 33 having downwardly bent flanges 34 and this cover is secured upon the container 10 by means of suitable screws 35 extending into the angles 17 secured against the sides of the container 10. An arcuate slot 36 is formed in the cover 33 adjacent one end and the pintle 31 extends upwardly through this arcuate slot. Upon the upper end of the pintle 31 there is rigidly mounted a metal container 37 having a cover 38 which telescopes thereon and which may be secured to the container as by a bayonet'joint, indicated in Fig. 1. This container is aclaf ted to receive a su1table gelatin or cellulod capsule 39 in which the ingredients ot the amalgam may be placed..

The amalgainator is adapted to be readily attached to the hand piece, indicated at 40, of a dentalengine. rihese hand pieces are provided with suitable jaws 41, which are usually intended to grasp burrs and the like'. rfhese hand pieces usually are provided with pins 42. When the amalgamator is applied to the hand piece, the pin 42, or other *pro-A jection formed upon the hand piece, is inserted into the notch 14 upon t-he sleeve 13 and the jaws 41 are clamped upon the spindle 19. In this manner the jaws which rotate relatively to the handle ot the hand piece. 40, may rotate the spindie- 19 while the sleeve 13 and the container 10 remain stationary with the handle. Rotation ot the spindle 19 produces rotation oi the gear 24 and consequently this gear rotates tie pinions 25 and 32. rihe rotation ot th pinion 32 rotates the container 37 which contains the ingredients oit the amalgam. is the pinion 25 rotates, the pin 28 passes in a. circle and reciprocates bach and forth within the slot 27. In this i'nanner the pinion 25 oscillates the lever 26A about its tulcrum,v which is directly above the end ot the spindle 19. The oscillation so produced by the lever 26 causes the pintle 31 to oscillate upon an arcuate path within the arcuate slot 36. In this manner the container 37 is caused to rotate and at the saine time to oscillate upon a predetermined arcuate path.

An interesting result developed by the construction resides in the tact that the container 37 when moving in one direction within its arcuate path rotates at a greater speed ot rotation than when moving in the opposite direction. j As the pinion 25 rotates, the pin 28 upon nearing the gear 24 moves at approximately the same speed as a given tooth upon the gear 24. In this manner the lever 26 is caused to swing at a speed ot rotation substantially equal to the speed ot rotation ot' the gear 24, when being swung in one direction. The pinion 32 is therefore caused to swing aboutthe gear 24 at practica-lly the same angular velocity, so that when the pintle 31 is moving in one direction within the slot 36, thel relative movement between the pinion 32 and the gear 24 is practically zero. rIhe movements imparted to the container 37 are rotation, oscillation upon an arcuate path, and a retardation and acceleration ot its speed of rotation. The contents within the container have a number ot forces acting upon them, namely, the centrifugal force produced by the rotation oi the container 37 the forces produced' by reciprocating the container in the arcuate slot, the slight centrifugal torce produced' by swinging the container upon anarcuate path, and the forces developed upon acceleration and retardation of Vthe speed ot rotation ot the container. Because ot the large number of forces acting in various directions, the contents within the con-trainer are quickly and' thoroughly mixed. It will be readily understood that mere rotation ot the container containing the amalgam alone would not properly mix the ingredients, aut would act as a separator, which would separate the mercury from the comminuted silver, copper or other material. `When the contents ot the container have been thoroughly mixed, the cover 3S may be removed and the amalgam may be removed from the capsule 39, and the amalgam so formed may be strained through a chamois or other suitable iiltering device, which removes the excess mercury. Y

From the above itis seen that an iniproved dental amalgamator is' provided, which not only quickly, etiiciently and thoroughly milles the ingredients oi the amalgam, but which is ot cheap, simple and durable construction and which ma,Y be readily attached to' the hand piece ot the dental engine, so a-s to beroperatedV thereby.

It is contemplated within the scope ot this invention to substitute for the gear 24 and the pinions 82 and 35 suitable rolle-rs which may have a friction engagement with each other, if found desirable, or suitable idler gears may be inserted between the gear 24 and the pinions 25V and `32, it desired. The lever 26 maybe pivoted directly upon the upper end ot the spindle 19 or the bracket 16 may carry apin upon which the lever 2G .is mounted.

It will be understood that various changes in the details ot construction-may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention as deiined by the appended Claims.A

I claim:

1. A dental amalgamator comprising a container adapted to hold the ingredients of the amalgam, a spindle, and meansV connecti-ng said spindle and said container whereby rotation of said spindle willl produce rotation of said container and oscilla-` tion ot the container in a plane other than the plane containing the axis ot rotation of the container.

2. A dental ainalgamator comprising a container adapted to hold the ingredients to be amalgamated, and means for rotating said container and oscillating it upon an arcuate path which is in a plane at right angles to theaxis 'ot rotation.

3. A mixing device comprising a. container adapted to hold substances to be mixed, and gear means associated with Said container for rotating it and causing it to oscillate upon a predetermined path, said means being so arranged as to cause the speed of rotation ot said container when moving in one direction upon said path to be greater than that when moving in the op posite direction.

4. A mixing device of the class described, comprising a container, and gear means associated with said container for rotating it and oscillating vit upon a predetermined path, said means being so arranged that rotation of said container When moving in one direction upon said path is practically 5. A dental amalgamator comprising a gear, means for rotating said gear, a pinion engaging with said gear, a pivoted lever actuated by said pinion, a second pinion carried by said lever and engaging upon said gear, and a container carried by said second pinion.

6. A dental amalgamator comprising a rotatable element, means for rotating said element, a: second rotatable element engaging with the first rotatable element, a lever adapted to be oscillated by said second rotatable element, a third rotatable element engageable upon said iirst rotatable element so as to be rotated thereby, said third rotatable elementbeing mounted upon said lever and oscillated therewith, and a container carried by -said third rotatable element.

7. A dental amalgamator comprising a frame, a spindle rotatably mounted upon said frame, a gear mounted upon said spindle, a pinion meshing with said gear and rotated thereby, a pivoted lever operatively' connected to said pinion so as' to be oscillated thereby, a seco-nd pinion carried by said lever and driven by said gear, and a container carried by .said second pinion.

8. A dental amalgamator comprising` a gear, a pair of pinions driven by said gear, means operate-d by one of said pinions for oscillating the other during its rotation, and containercarried by said second pinion.

9. A dental amalgamator comprising a gear, a pair ot pinions driven by said gear, meansoperated by one of said pinions for oscillating the other during its rotation', and a container carried by the other pinion, said container having a lining therein adapted to receive the substances forming the amalgam.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HARRY A. BONOFF. 

